Norah Fry
Born1871
Bristol
Died1960

Norah Lillian Fry (1871–1960) was a member of a Bristol Quaker Fry family of the J. S. Fry & Sons company. She was an advocate and campaigner for disabled children and those with learning difficulties and in 1918 became the first female councillor in Somerset.[1][2]

Life

Blue Plaque in Brislington

Norah Fry was born and educated in Clifton, Bristol, one of the daughters of Francis James Fry and a relative of Joseph Storrs Fry. She later became Norah Lillian Cooke-Hurle after her marriage to Joseph Cooke-Hurle in 1915. She was an advocate for better services for people with learning difficulties. She was very concerned about the lack of proper schools for disabled children and the shortage of housing for people with learning difficulties.[3]

She served as the chair of the statutory mental deficiency committee and a key member of the Somerset Association for Mental Welfare (SAMW).[4]

The Norah Fry Research Centre in the University of Bristol is named after her,[5] as was a hospital in Shepton Mallet.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Local Government Records". Somerset County Council. Retrieved 30 June 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Norah Fry, Shepton Mallet". Midas Homes. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2007.
  3. ^ "Who was Norah Fry?". University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 16 May 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2007.
  4. ^ Chester, Graham; Pamela Dale (1 January 2007). "Institutional Care for the Mentally Defective, 1914–1948: Diversity as a Response to Individual Needs and an Indication of Lack of Policy Coherence". Med. Hist. 51 (1): 59–78. doi:10.1017/s0025727300000892. PMC 1712355. PMID 17200697.
  5. ^ "Norah Fry Research Centre". University of Bristol. Retrieved 20 August 2012.

Further reading

Categories